NM Guardsmen to return from mission in Egypt

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico National Guard is planning welcome home ceremonies for more than 400 troops who have spent the past nine months in Egypt as part of a peacekeeping mission.

The first ceremony will be Saturday afternoon in Las Cruces to welcome back members of the HHC 1-200th Infantry Battalion. Another ceremony will be held Sunday in Bernalillo for members of the battalion's A Company.

Gov. Susana Martinez plans to attend both ceremonies.

Members of the 919th Military Police Company and B Company, 1-200th Infantry Battalion will be welcomed home next week.

During their deployment, the soldiers conducted checkpoints and reconnaissance patrols and manned observation posts along international boundaries.

The New Mexico National Guard has deployed thousands of soldiers to Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Cuba and Egypt for combat and peacekeeping missions in recent years. About 45 Guardsmen remain in Sinai.

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